Fiction Review: The Guide

I met author Peter Heller at Booktopia 2017, when he was discussing his novel, Celine, about a kick-ass older woman who used to work for the FBI and now helps to find missing persons (based on his own mother's real life!). Last year, my husband and I both read and enjoyed The River by Heller. Both of these novels combine two of our favorite things: thrillers and beautiful outdoor settings. So, I was excited to read Heller's latest outdoor thriller, The Guide, which is a follow-up to The River.

Jack, one of the main characters from The River, is back, now in his home state of Colorado. Jack's had a rough time with grieving and PTSD, so he takes a job as a fishing guide for the summer. Fishing has always been a soothing activity for him, and he thinks that fishing every day in this beautiful place will help him to heal. Kingfisher Lodge is very luxurious, catering to super wealthy clients, located on one of the most beautiful, pristine stretches of river in the state. Jack is assigned to guide Alison K. (no last names to protect privacy) as his first client. He doesn't really follow celebrity culture, but he thinks he recognizes her as a hugely popular singer. All he cares about is that she loves to fish as much as he does, and she's very good at it. The two of them spend their days on the river, engrossed in fly-fishing. But from the moment he's introduced to the property and the staff, Jack begins to feel that something's just not right in this idyllic spot. The property is bound by barbed wire on one side, and a warning that trespassers will be shot on the other.  Jack hears a scream in the middle of the night, some of the staff (and the lodge's rules) seem strange, and both he and Alison begin to notice that something is off with some of the other guests. What is really going on at this beautiful fishing lodge?

This is another winner from Heller! The first two-thirds of the novel is a slow build of tension, as Jack's observations and gut feeling tell him something is wrong. The suspense develops gradually, with a growing sense of dread, as Jack and Alison spend sun-soaked days on the river but sense something sinister beneath the surface. Toward the end of the novel, that tension bursts into an action-packed thriller with stunning secrets revealed one after another and Jack's life in danger. My favorite part of this and his other novels, though, is Heller's gorgeous nature writing.

"Jack put the manager out of his mind or tried. But it wasn't until they were through lunch and back on the creek that his anger swirled away in the thigh-deep current. The thing about fishing: it washed everything away but water and stone and wind. And bird cry. And blowdown. And a spiderweb's gleamings in the exposed roots of a cut bank. And in a tailwater pool: the spreading rings of rising trout, dapping silently like slow rain. His heart rose to these things like a hungry fish and he could forget himself."

I'm not really into fishing, but throughout the book, Heller paints vivid pictures of the outdoor world--the sights, sounds, and scents of nature--and how they affect Jack. I could completely relate to these frequent passages and appreciated them during a time when I wasn't able to get outside much myself. This is a thriller, though, and the horrors that humans can come up with are in sharp contrast to those beautiful, peaceful portraits of the natural world. My husband and I both loved this novel and can't wait to see what Peter Heller writes next!

257 pages, Alfred A. Knopf

Random House Audio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Colorado

RIP Challenge

Fall Into Reading Challenge - Leaves on the cover

 

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

   

 

Or you can order The Guide from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.